Throat Cancer: Early Signs, Symptoms, Causes, and Prognosis

What is throat cancer? What are the symptoms? How can you detect throat cancer with some early signs? What are the different causes? Is there any way to prevent throat cancer? Stage 4 throat cancer: how long to live?

There are so many different questions that can strike your mind when you hear about throat cancer. There are various types of throat cancer, and each of them is named according to the affected part of the throat. You may have cancer of the larynx (part of the throat containing voice box), the hypopharynx, the oropharynx, or the nasopharynx.

Fortunately, throat cancer is among rare types of cancer. If you fear developing throat cancer, or you have suddenly started to think about it due to certain complications. Here’s everything you should know about throat cancer before finally concluding.

How Common is Throat Cancer?

According to the National Cancer institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER), roughly 13,000 people had laryngeal cancer in 2018. Fifty-one thousand five hundred forty people will be suffering from the pharynx and oral cavity cancers by the end of 2020. There is a 78 percent survival rate of a throat cancer patient after diagnosis. Around half of all laryngeal cancer cases are diagnosed before spreading to other body parts.

How is Throat Cancer Staged?

The staging system for throat cancer plays a vital role in deciding how good or bad the prognosis is. The stage is determined according to the TNM staging system in which T refers to the primary tumor, N refers to the spread of cancer to lymph nodes, and M is for the spreading phase of the tumor.

There are five different throat cancer stages from stage 0 (probable progression of abnormal cells to cancerous ones) to stage 4 (spread of cancer is confirmed). The approach to treatment is decided according to the stage of throat cancer. Here is a brief discussion of different stages.

• Stage 0: Also known as “carcinoma in situ,” reflects the beginning of the scale. It is characterized by the abnormal cell in the throat lining that can become cancerous.

• Stage 1: The very early stage of throat cancer. The tumor size is not more than two centimeters, and the lymph nodes are not affected.

• Stage 2:The tumor is more than 2 centimeters in size but less than four centimeters. Lymph nodes are not affected yet.

• Stage 3 throat cancer: how long to live? The tumor is usually larger than four centimeters or has affected the lymph nodes of the compromised side. When it comes to the survival rate, almost 60 percent of affected people survive five years or more after the diagnosis.

• Stage 4 throat cancer how long to live? It is called the “final stage” or “the most advanced stage” Irrespective of the size of the tumor, it may be spread to nearby tissue including the neck, thyroid, trachea, jaw, esophagus, mouth, or other nearby locations.
• One large lymph node on the same affected side of the throat, multiple lymph nodes of different sizes on the same affected side, or a single lymph node irrelevant to size on the opposite side of the affected part.
• In very severe cases, even distant body parts like lungs are affected.

When it is about survival, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the five-year survival rate after the diagnosis of the fourth stage of throat cancer is only 39.1 percent.

Possible Causes of Throat Cancer